Communication History Theories

The course will examine the intellectual history of the study of communication (i.e., the evolution of ideas related to the field), and for the most part take a biographical approach to understanding the development of the discipline. We will review the life and times, as well as the thinking, of some of the forerunners and founders of the field of communication, highlighting important theoretical developments along the way, and identifying major themes, concepts, and ideas. The focus will be on the intellectual, institutional, and socio-political influences that helped to foster the emergence and shape the growth of the communication discipline in the twentieth century.